WILD WILD NORTH

Kenya Paragliding Exploration

Once you’ve experienced SkyNomad’s Kenya XC Paragliding Adventure tour, you can raise the bar and join SkyNomad’s WIld Wild North Kenya Paragliding Exploration.

Chalbi in Northern Kenya is the only Equatorial desert on planet Earth, surrounded by the green highlands of Ethiopia and Kenya. The isolated, towering rocks and ridges emerge from the arid plains as silent witnesses of the Creation. Dry river beds meander through the carpet of thorny trees and bushes. Wild animals and cattle rustling tribes rest in shade during noon’s heat, and when it becomes cooler, they continue their fight for life and resources.

After two successful explorations in 2024 and 2026, SkyNomad Kenya organizes the next level of paragliding exploration tours, where pilots actively participate in bringing paragliding in North Kenya – sweating in the heat, hiking hills, clearing takeoffs, camping, improvising, or simply staying alive in this harsh environment.

This is a non-profit tour, which goals are:

  • discovering and clearing new take offs
  • setting new cross-country directions
  • studying the paragliding meteorology and terrain of North Kenya
  • positive interactions with local communities
  • popularizing the paragliding and tourism potential of the area
  • improving pilot’s flying and outdoor skills
  • testing equipment

 

WARNING: Wild Wild North Kenya explorations can run smoothly as paragliding adventure tours in other parts of Kenya, but keep in mind the extra risks of:

  • damaging your equipment on thorny vegetation or sharp and abrasive rocks
  • camping in the wild and walking for two days if landing far from roads
  • encountering wild life. Elephants, lions and lone buffalo can be dangerous, together with spitting cobra, black mamba, and puff adder, but they usually hide from midday heat when paragliding pilots fly. The adventure usually starts after landing 😉 Sleeping on a tree with hammock or in your harness can reduce the risks.
  • dehydration and heat stroke in the desert environment. Carry sufficient water.
  • banditry and being in the wrong place in the wrong moment. The major tribes in the area – Samburu, Borana, Turkana, and West Pokot – are relatively safe when within their territories, but border areas can be dangerous when they steal each other’s cows or fight for water and grass during the dry season (January-March). Foreign white tourists are usually not a target, but anyone can be caught in the crossfire. Get informed about tribe borders and be carefult when you don’t see people or livestock for a long time (sign of war). The government has special armed teams responding to such conflicts using drones and helicopters, so bandits don’t like flying things.

 

During the tour we try to avoid unnecessary risks, stay a glide away from roads, check security…, but hey – this is paragliding. We don’t know where we’ll land. Roads might be eroded after last rains. Let’s prepare for the worst and hope for the best!

 

  • Tour name: Wild Wild North Kenya Paragliding Exploration Tour
  • Guide: Nikolay Yotov/ Isaac Makimei
  • Dates: Usually in last 2 weeks of February. Check SkyNomad calendar for exact dates.
  • Duration: 12 days, Monday to next week’s Friday.
  • Start/End: The tour starts  and ends in Nairobi. Before the tour, you should buy Safaricom SIM card and register it to M-pesa service. M-pesa is phone payment system used everywhere in Kenya. Other option is to use eSIM and withdraw cash for payments later. Apart from M-pesa, having extra cash is useful in North Kenya where GSM reception is limited.
  • Maximum number of pilots: 9
  • Pilot’s level: Experienced and Autonomous. More than 600 hours/flights. Min 100 km Personal Best. Very good take off and landing skills for narrow places. Fit for 2 hours hike in the heat to some take offs or long off road hikes. Adaptive to various situations and friendly with local people.
  • Flying sites: Borana, Ololokwe, Laisamis, Maralal, Marsabit.
  • Accommodation: private room with en suite bathroom in 1-2 star hotels. $15-30 per night or about $300 for 12 days. Camping. There are some posh lodges in nearby wild life conservancies, but we try to keep cheaper options.
  • Food: standard local food is about $15-20 per day or about $200 for 12 days. Bring “survival” suplements like chocolates, energy bars, nuts. You can buy nuts and dates in Kenya.
  • Guiding: is free. Participants just cover the guide expenses like food, transport and accommodation and can tip the guide and the drivers at the end.
  • Transport: A Toyota 4WD van or Landcruiser with driver is $150 per day or about $400 per person for 12 days. The fuel is shared by the participants. Obviously, the exact price depends on flown distances and number of participants but $150 for 12 days would be an average fuel guess. The cars start the tour in Nairobi with full tank and have to be filled in Nairobi at the end of the tour.
  • Other expenses: Paragliding Association of Kenya 30 days membership fee of $20. Some communities and land owners charge about $5 per takeoff. Motorbike (boda) and minibus (matatu) self-retrieves are not expensive and depend on the distances (matatus usually have fixed price for locals and foreigners, but for bodas you should negotiate in advance). Drinks. Souvenirs.
  • Total price: is about $1300, excluding flights to Nairobi

 

  • Clothing: The semi desert is 600-900 m msl, hot during the day and cold during the night . Use long trousers and sleeves to protect your skin from thorns and sunburn. Comfortable hiking shoes and two pairs of socks, underwear and two T-shirts. Flying gloves as it becomes cold at 3k. Sunscreen. Sunglasses. Warm jacket for flying. Buff for breathing protection on dusty roads. Ear plugs when sleeping in noisy hotels.
  • Equipment: Conditions in North Kenya are usually stronger than at your home site, so use a trusty paraglider. Lightweight wing is good for easier inflation during lulls but can be more agile when it’s windy. The harness should be sturdy with sufficient protection. Bring spare lines and ripstop tape, as most takeoffs and landings are bushy and thorny. 2 m radio (144-146 Mhz), preferably quiality brands like Yeasu, Icon, Kenwood (avoid Baofeng). Reliable communication can save your life! Also bring two powerbanks with cables for your phone. Satelite navigation with SOS, like Spot or Garmin InReach, is recommended. Head lamp or torch if hiking in the dark. Pepper spray against dogs or wild animals. Universal pocket knife. Folding hand saw (Fiskars weights 70 g).
  • Health. No need of vaccines for those who come from Europe or America. There is not much malaria in North Kenya, especially during the dry season (Jan-Mar),  but you can buy locally pre-medication. The best is prevention by using shoes with high socks, long trousers and sleeves. A mosquito repellent with DEET works for other bugs too. Hotel beds are usually covered with mosquito nets but you can bring a piece to cover your face. Local food can cause diarrhea in tender Western stomachs, but you can buy locally enterol “FloraNorm” (saccharomyces boulardii). There is a decent health care and helicopter rescue in Kenya. International or local (rescue.co) insurance covering Search and Rescue as well Medical Treatment is recommended.